Capitalism A Love Story Essay

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Capitalism is officially defined as “an economic system in which trade, industry and the means of production are controlled by private owners with the goal of making profits in a market economy” or better put by Michael Moore a “system of taking and giving, mostly taking”. I analyzed “Capitalism: A Love Story” by the documentary film maker Michael Moore to form a better understanding of the term “capitalism” and how it has affected those associated with it. Capitalism is perpetuated as a social structure that has given us the highest standard of living in the world. It was introduced as an economic system of “free enterprise” that would allow us the freedom to choose our own path in life dependant on where we choose to work through either being able to make a profit, just get by, or just outright fail. Free enterprise essentially is a set of words that mean survival of the fittest. Meaning the survival of a company is based on competition and that company’s ability to provide the best product to its customer base at the most completive price. The basis of the capitalistic system is the “profit motive” or the incentive to make money. This profit motive led to many instances of the exploitation of capitalism as explored throughout the movie. So was the case in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania with the privatization of jails which now made it possible to profit off of the incarceration of individuals. This area is home to the highest juvenile incarceration rates in the state due in part to the fact that it employs the processes of capitalism in dealing with their defiant youth. The county hired a private profit making youth correctional facility called PA Child Care which replaced the public county juvenile home. Working in conjunction ... ... middle of paper ... ...letariat (workers/has only its labor to sell and relies on the wages provided by the bourgeois) brought on class consciousness (a feeling of identification and solidarity with those belonging to the same social or economic class as oneself) amongst the workers and the strangers who came to support them with supplies as they banded together to fight for a common cause. Based on my analysis of this movie I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to achieve equality within capitalist societies. As long as you are working to put money in someone else’s pocket equality will never exist because this will just give way to a society based on a class system. I believe the only way to achieve equality would be to rid these corporations of their owners and CEO’s and run them as the co-op companies as shown within the movie, which is owned and run by its employees.

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